Posts Tagged ‘Charlie Bell’

March 17, 2012 · 10:25 AM ET

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY — Fans of the Milwaukee Bucks are probably pretty happy with Tuesday’s trade after their team’s 120-98 win in Golden State on Friday. Monta Ellis helped his new team score 120 points on his old team and keep pace with the New York Knicks for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Ellis is the biggest name from the five-player deal that got the trade season started. Andrew Bogut, if healthy, is the best player. But the other guy the Bucks got (not the expiring contract of Kwame Brown) in the deal was the one with the best numbers.

No, I’m not talking about points, rebounds or assists.

Ekpe Udoh averaged just 4.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 96 games for Golden State. But the Warriors, who were 45-51 in games Udoh played, outscored their opponents by an incredible 255 points in Udoh’s 1,856 minutes, and were outscored by 512 in his 3,944 minutes on the bench.

The advanced numbers show that Golden State was much better on both ends of the floor when Udoh was in the game.

Warriors efficiency with Udoh on and off the floor, last two seasons (prior to trade)

Udoh on/off floor

MIN

Pace

OffRtg

DefRtg

NetRtg

+/-

On floor

1,856

94.7

107.8

99.6

+8.2

+255

Off floor

3,944

97.3

103.5

109.6

-6.1

-512

Ellis was the Warrior teammate who shared the floor most with Udoh. The two were a plus-179 in 1,270 minutes together. Without Udoh, Ellis was a minus-465 in 3,322 minutes with the Warriors over the last two seasons. (more…)

December 7, 2011 · 10:16 AM ET

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS –Tyson Chandler has been in high demand before.

It’s been a while, probably all the way back to when he was a high school star, that he’s experienced at its current levels. But he’s familiar with the recruiting game. And in a free agent season where the true, franchise-changing players are rare, Chandler stands out.

That’s probably why you’ve seen his name associated with so many different teams as Friday, the first day players can sign contracts and offer sheets with teams, approaches.

New Warriors coach Mark Jackson had a front row seat for the defensive showcase Chandler put on during The Finals and knows what a difference a defensive stalwart can make for an offensive-minded bunch set on transforming itself into a playoff outfit. There’s also the matter of having an elder statesmen, of sorts, to help guide his young crew.

It would take some major roster finagling, but the Warriors’ front office is aggressively studying all of the requisite moves to make the signing a possibility. Also, the team’s best players seem to be in support of the bold changes that could open salary space for Chandler.

“It’d be huge,” said point guard Stephen Curry, who spent six weeks with Chandler on the USA Basketball team last summer. “He’s a game-changer down low. That’s a coveted role that a lot of teams want to add to their roster.

“If he’s a guy who puts a Warriors’ jersey on, it’d be a huge addition.” …

The bidding among a weak free-agent class is going to be especially high for Chandler, who is widely credited with changing the defensive culture of the Dallas Mavericks, helping to turn them into NBA champions last season. Chandler is expected to get $12 million to $15 million a season over a four-year deal.

That in itself would be way outside the Warriors’ price range, but general manager Larry Riley said there are ways to free up that much cap space. After they sign their three rookies (Klay Thompson, Jeremy Tyler and Charles Jenkins), the Warriors will have about $6 million in cap space. They then would have to use the amnesty clause on Charlie Bell, paying the waived guard $4 million but not counting his salary against the cap, and trade center Andris Biedrins‘ three-year, $27 million contract without taking much salary in return.

It’ll take some salary-cap creativity and some serious behind-the-scenes work to get it done, obviously. But the Warriors, with their new front office structure and the addition of Jerry West, should have all the tools needed to make something happen.

If Chandler and Paul both find their way to Oakland, the best fans in the league will once again have (the makings of) a team worthy of their devotion.

February 22, 2011 · 11:16 PM ET

More rumblings on trade rumors from around the league …

WARRIORS AND NETS TALKING

The Golden State Warriors and New Jersey Nets are discussing a potential trade that would send disgruntled Nets forward Troy Murphy and a second-round draft pick to the Warriors in exchange for center Dan Gadzuric and forward Brandan Wright, according to league sources. But the deal has not yet been agreed to, according to sources involved in the talks.

The Nets have been committed to moving Murphy for weeks, after he fell out of favor with Coach Avery Johnson. Murphy has been home since early January, having played in just 18 games this season for New Jersey, averaging 3.6 points. But the 30-year-old Murphy has long been considered one of the league’s best rebounders and would be a good fit for a playoff team’s rotation. There has been speculation that Murphy will be bought out by whatever team trades for him, given that he’s on an expiring contract ($11.9 million this season), and would then sign with a contending team before the March 1 playoff roster deadline.

One source involved in the discussions cautioned that the potential trade was at best “50-50,” but confirmed the teams were talking, as has been rumored for a couple of weeks. Yahoo! Sports reported the trade was close to being done Tuesday.

The Nets acquired Murphy last August from Indiana as part of a four-team deal that sent guard Darren Collison from New Orleans to Indiana, along with swingman James Posey, with forward Trevor Ariza going from Houston to New Orleans and Houston getting guard Courtney Lee from New Jersey.

The 23-year-old Wright was a first-round pick in 2007 but has been slowed by injuries during his years with the Warriors, appearing in just 98 career games in almost four full seasons. Golden State acquired Gadzuric and guard Charlie Bell from Milwaukee last summer in a trade for forward Corey Maggette.

September 15, 2010 · 9:48 AM ET

***

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — For a team that didn’t pile up many wins last season, the Golden State Warriors certainly racked up their share of highlight plays.

When you start with the dynamite backcourt tandem of Monta Ellis and Steph Curry, that should be expected.

But much has changed for this team since we saw them last.

New owners, new uniforms, plenty of new faces and maybe some renewed vigor for a team that has never had to worry about the passion of its immense fan base.

With training camp just days away, we’re still trying to figure out how coach Don Nelson is going to integrate eight new faces — All-Star forward David Lee, Dorrell Wright, Louis Amundson, Rodney Carney, Charlie Bell, Dan Gadzuric and rookies Ekpe Udoh and Jeremy Lin — into the Warriors’ mix.

But Nelson is the league’s resident mad scientist, so if anyone is capable of cooking up something, it should be him. And he’ll be coaching (for as long as the new ownership group will have him) the sort of motley crew that should be easy to show some California love for all those Warriors diehards in the Bay Area.

Whether or not this team will inspire any reaction beyond their home base, however, remains to be seen.